The 25-year-old has been under fire for some time now after his displays over recent seasons have been far short of the requisite quality to represent United and it appears that he could be set to depart the club.

Villa have offered him a reprieve and it seems that their bid has been enough to convince Louis Van Gaal's side to relinquish the midfielder, who has failed to live up to his early promise.

United’s squad has been much derided in recent times, but few players have had to take on the level of criticism that Cleverley has.

The England international has regularly been singled out for abuse from neutrals and supporters alike and he currently looks very short on confidence, as a result.

An all-action midfielder, Cleverley has played fairly regularly for United in recent times but failed to make much of an impact during his time on the pitch.

Over the past two season he has made 44 appearances at United, but has shown little signs of progress after breaking through.

It appears that Van Gaal has seen little future for him as he begins plotting to take the club forward, after what has been a poor start.

The Red Devils have spent big this summer, with their recruitment drive reportedly not over yet, and they are expected to bring in more new arrivals before the close of the month.

John Verrall

John is a sports journalism graduate from Staffordshire University. He is a huge football fan and a minute-by-minute writer for UEFA.com, as well as being a freelance writer for Sports New Media. John has also seen his work been published by the likes of The Guardian, World Soccer and Shoot Magazine over the course of his bourgeoning journalism career so far. He has a particular expertise in all things to do with the Football League – and is a passionate Peterborough United fan.